BASF has completed its acquisition of most of the businesses and assets from Bayer that the company was required to divest as part of its purchase of Monsanto.
Included in the nearly $9 billion purchase price is Bayer’s digital farming business and its global glufosinate-ammonium business.
“This strategic move adds excellent assets to our strong agricultural solutions portfolio and enhances our innovation potential,” said Dr. Martin Brudermüller, Chairman of the Board of Executive Directors and Chief Technology Officer of BASF SE. “Overall, it ensures an even more comprehensive and attractive offering to our customers.”
In October, Bayer agreed to sell its global glufosinate-ammonium non-selective herbicide business, commercialized under the Liberty, Basta and Finale brands, as well as its seed businesses for key row crops in select markets, to BASF for about $7 billion. In April, Bayer agreed to add its global vegetable seeds business and other assets, such as certain glyphosate-based herbicides in Europe that are predominantly used in industrial applications.
The addition of those assets boosted the overall price of the sale to nearly $9 billion.
Paul Rea, senior vice president of BASF’s North American crop division, offered more detail on the purchases. “The scope now includes Bayer’s R&D platform for hybrid wheat and canola-quality juncea; a number of seed treatment products; and the complete digital farming platform Xarvio.” The company said it expects the acquisition of Bayer’s vegetable seed business to be completed soon.
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Scott Kay, BASF’s vice president-U.S. Crop, said today on a conference call with reporters that “by adding glufosinate to our broad herbicide portfolio, we can provide farmers with complementary crop protection and are able to develop new formulations and mixtures for better resistance management.”
He added, “Our new seeds business in key field crops such as canola, cotton, soy and wheat, gives farmers more options in high-quality seeds.”
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